The Boy Scouts of America's decision this week to allow gay youths into its membership is a step in the right direction, local advocates for the policy change said on Friday.

But the organization is still facing criticism from those within Scouting who wanted to see homosexual adults accepted as well, not to mention new censure from groups who were against modifying the Scouts' long-established anti-gay stance at all.

"We still have a lot further to go," said Framingham attorney Christopher Petrini, who resigned from the Knox Trail Council this past December over the BSA's "discriminatory" rule, adding he "would still need to see a complete reformation of the policy" before he would consider rejoining the Scouts.

Jody Gladstein, whose son is in the Knox Trail Council's Cub Scout Pack 12 in Framingham, had similar reservations, saying she and her family may stop participating in the Scouts in the future.

"I'm happy there's been a small step forward, but I think it's a fumbling step," she said, adding the decision to continue the ban on openly gay men over 18 creates a "hypocritical" conundrum for gay youths in the organization. "What's the point? You're able to get that far, and then, too bad."

Jim Been, the cubmaster for Pack 12, said he expects the BSA leadership to revisit its gay membership policy again soon for that very reason.

"I don't think they can realistically leave it like this," he said, especially if those in favor of ending the ban on adults continue to raise the issue.

In Massachusetts especially, he said, there is widespread support to allow gays of any age into the organization. His own pack, for example, last year sent a letter signed by dozens of parents in favor of the move to the Knox Trail Council.

"A lot of the kids in my pack, because they're in Massachusetts, they've only known legalized gay marriage," Been said. "They have friends in school with two moms or two dads - they don't think twice about it."

The Knox Trail Council itself has urged a full repeal of the Scouts' anti-gay stance, and reiterated its position in a statement released after the BSA's vote on Thursday.

"Although we are glad that the national policy has changed as to youth, we are not satisfied with the revised policy and intend to continue to advocate for our previously-stated recommendation," immediate past president Brian Dingman wrote.

The Scouts' decision was also widely condemned, however, by faith groups and other organizations that had lobbied against allowing openly gay members. John Stemberger, founder of OnMyHonor.net in Tampa, Fla., one of the most prominent coalitions against reversing the ban, in particular slammed the BSA for eroding Scouting's "timeless values."

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"BSA is teaching our kids through its new mission that we don’t make ethical and moral choices through the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law," he said in a statement on Thursday. "We make them like an unprincipled politician does, by putting your finger in the air and seeing which way the wind is blowing or by looking at the latest polling results."

Been acknowledged the organization had faced a hard choice, particularly with such a wide spectrum of Scout sponsors, from socially progressive corporations to conservative religious groups, watching closely. But he also pointed out the BSA's sister group, the Girl Scouts of the USA, maintains a full open-door policy and "they're going along just fine."

Ron Gorham, scoutmaster for Knox Trail Council's Troop 4 in Milford, said he hasn't discussed the gay membership issue with the chapter's sponsor, St. Mary's Catholic Church, and wasn't sure exactly how the BSA's decision would go over. But personally he was in favor of it.

"I think it's frankly about time," he said. "They should be allowed to be Scouts."

Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com